


In the name of Love and Justice~

by FraudAndShade



Category: Lobotomy Corporation (Video Game), Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Butterflies, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Gen, Magical Girls, One Shot, Really should have happened earlier but the game is still obscure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26360242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FraudAndShade/pseuds/FraudAndShade
Summary: During one of her countless attempts to save Madoka, Homura stumbles upon a witch she had never encountered before and encounters three magical girls she had never met before either, but things only get weirder from that point onward.A one-shot crossover with Lobotomy Corporation that I wish I could develop further, but should suffice for now.
Kudos: 27





	In the name of Love and Justice~

**Author's Note:**

> PMMM and magical girls heavily based on megucas go well together. As I'm not confident in my writing skills to begin with (especially when it comes to combat) and the whole thing would take a lot of careful planning to make it work, a one-shot is the best I can do and even then, I'm not so sure about the result.
> 
> Homura here isn't exactly from the timeline shown in the anime, but I can't exactly say from which point of her journey she's from. Also be warned that I haven't really kept up with PMMM stuff after Rebellion, so, there might be some terrible mistakes.
> 
> The lack of a proper category for the other part of this crossover (Lobotomy Corporation) is inconvenient. The witch used here is heavily based on one of the characters there, but it's not supposed to be that thing.

"It must be somewhere here..."

Guided by her Soul Gem, Akemi Homura searched for the witch. On it own, witch hunts weren't anything out of the ordinary, but when and where that happened made all the difference.

Normally, this was supposed to be a relatively uneventful day when nothing really happened aside from Incubator's attempts to fool Madoka - which were no longer a problem after dealing with him for so long - and she was free to prepare for what came later. That is, if there were no divergences in the timeline to throw a wrench in her plans. Their impact on her drawn out mission ranged from insignificant changes in scenery to disturbances that were almost impossible to work with and could easily lead to an early dead end. They were never a pleasant discovery and none have managed to meaningfully help her so far. It would be nice if Walpurgisnacht could just decide to move elsewhere and never even consider approaching Japan for a century or two.

She hoped that it was merely a well-familiar witch that simply happened to hatch in a different place at a different time and she would be done with it without using up more resources than needed. At the very least, this was a fine opportunity to obtain a Grief Seed. A magical girl could never have enough of those, whether it was for her own use or something to simply give her bargaining power.

This witch made its residence in a school a fair distance away from her own. Fortunately, Tomoe Mami was busy elsewhere and thus would be unlikely to interfere although that didn't mean Homura could dawdle for too long. She could usually afford to let the veteran magical girl take care of witches, but there was always the risk of her dying in spite of her experience and as unstable as Mami could be, Homura still felt the need to put some effort into ensuring that she doesn't lose a valuable asset so early. With her ability to stop time, it would be much easier for her to retreat if the witch proved to be too much for her to handle efficiently, however unlikely that was.

The entrance to the witch's barrier was located on the roof of the building, temporarily rendering it inaccessible to those who couldn't simply jump high and far enough to reach it. The witch's mark - three butterflies layered on top of each other - was new to her. Bad news for sure, but regardless of what this one could pull, she still had more than enough firepower on her side. She simply couldn't afford to waste too much of it on a random witch that may never appear again.

Armed with a semi-automatic pistol for the moment, Homura enters the barrier. Compared to most she had seen before, it was rather basic, if not a little hard on the eyes thanks to its entirely black and white interior. At least it was easy to navigate as it was just a set of corridors and the familiars taking appearance of white butterflies with black patterns completely ignored her. While they could potentially attack her later as a swarm, provoking them didn't seem like a good idea either. Besides, flutter of their wings broke up what would otherwise be a deafening silence, however quiet it was.

This monotonous scenery doesn't change until she finally reaches the heart of the labyrinth. A vast field with several mountains far in the distance, all black with almost blinding white sky above them and what looked like black veins or roots spreading through it. Compared to the relatively empty corridors, this landscape was littered with bodies, none of which bore any wounds. Familiars she saw before were resting on each body. This witch must have been active for longer than she thought.

The witch in question sat on a coffin in the middle of the field, seemingly waiting for Homura's arrival. Compared to the corpses around it, it was rather large. It looked like a thirty feet tall man of light build in a black formal suit with five arms; two of them were folded on its lap, another pair held the coffin while the fifth arm sticking out of its chest was extended outward, its palm open for several familiars to rest on it. A white butterfly similar to its mark fluttered where its head would normally be. A prettier sight than Gertrud, no doubt.

Homura didn't wait for the witch to rise from its coffin, choosing to unload a few bullets into its head before it can attack first and dealing cosmetic damage at best. As she expected, butterflies that weren't resting on corpses flew towards the girl in a sizeable swarm, but they were too slow to hit the mark. They weren't enough of a threat to waste explosives on them, but they did their best to block her shots and the density of these swarms was too much for bullets to pass through even if individual familiars were frail enough to die from a glancing blow. These swarms and the flat terrain made it difficult to find a good vantage point. One pipe bomb wouldn't be too much of a loss.

As she rolled away from another attempt to hit her, Homura reached into her shield for something far more potent - an RPG. Once the swarm trying to block a grenade was cleared out by the explosion, the rocket-propelled round quickly reached its target, blowing off one of the witch's left arms it was trying to protect itself with and sending it tumbling a dozen feet backwards until it simply froze in place and recovered. A few more shots would finish it off, but that had to wait for a bit. The witch itself was preparing to attack, extending its middle arm towards Homura with its hand held in a finger gun gesture.

The girl's eyes widened with surprise when contrary to what she expected, butterflies appeared out of nowhere right her face, making her feel lightheaded. It didn't hurt at all or even leave any wounds, but she simply couldn't regain her composure and the ringing in her ears only kept growing louder.

...

Where will she go when she dies?

Whether she dies as herself or becomes a witch and then meets her end, what will happen to her afterwards? It was undeniable that souls existed. She held her own in her palm numerous times. She shattered more souls of fellow magical girls than she cared to remember. If her own soul gem breaks, will she simply cease to exist? Or will she be stuck in limbo, unable to pass on and never finding rest?

Perhaps it would be better to just res-

Flow of time ground to a halt and everything around Homura stopped moving. A temporary retreat was in order. Fortunately, familiars in the halls remained docile when she released her hold on time and nothing chased after her. She could catch her breath there and figure out what to do once those intrusive thoughts were gone and she could actually concentrate.

This witch was troublesome. Not impossible to deal with - Homura could always rig the whole place with explosives - but its very first attack had already proven to be very dangerous even if it somehow didn't damage her body. Avoiding its line of sight would be difficult with all those familiars around it and it could easily have more tricks up its sleeve. It would be better to simply overwhelm it with superior firepower or leave it for someone else to deal with.

Before she could decide which weapons would be the most efficient for this task, Homura heard something from the direction she came from. Was there someone else in the labyrinth? She didn't see anyone else enter and there didn't seem to be any other entrance to the witch's hideout. Those thoughts didn't distract her THAT much. Even if there was someone who could turn invisible, it was unlikely that she would simply walk past what looked like a defenseless magical girl without either taking advantage of that or trying to help depending on her mindset.

Carefully going back inside confirmed that she was not alone. There was not one, not two, but three other magical girls fighting the witch and she couldn't recognize any of them. A team of magical girls she never met before was more of a concern than a witch, whether they were potential allies or enemies. For that moment, observing them was be the best course of action.

The one that seemed to be the oldest of the three - certainly one of the oldest magical girls Homura had ever seen - had dark skin, curly white hair and red eyes. She wore a dress with peculiar mosaic patterns and a thigh high slit that was gold on the outside and black on the inside, a golden necklace, at least one golden bracelet, black shoes and black opera gloves. Her weapon of choice seemed to be a gauntlet with similar patterns as her dress and an ember crystal on the back of it. Short-ranged, but that didn't stop her from dispersing large swarms of butterflies in one explosive punch.

The second, somewhat younger magical girl, was of far thinner build, with long blue hair that gradually turned darker near the tips and skin too pale to be healthy. Her outfit consisted of a long blue dress that grew darker above the waist with a black spade emblem right below the collar, a small white tiara with three spade-like tips and a transparent white cape that covered her shoulders. As eye-catching as the glimmering stars in her hair and constellations on her dress were, some sort of a pitch-black substance covering the left half of her face and her otherwise baren arms up to shoulders were more noticeable and so were horn-like growths sticking out of her head. This strange girl wielded a rapier, swiftly cutting through familiars albeit with less success than the one with a gauntlet.

As for the youngest of them, she had fair skin, rosy cheeks, long pale blue hair that turned purple near the tips and large yellow eyes. Her choice of attire was the closest to what one would imagine a magical girl wearing: a frilly magenta skirt, a pink corset, a large pink bow with a golden bell, flutter sleeves that resembled white and pale blue wings, a pair of white thigh highs and a pink heart-shaped hairpin with a black center. Even her weapon was a winged staff with a large magenta star on one end and a pale blue heart on the other. It shot star-shaped projectiles when swung, which were less than effective here.

All three members of this team made sure to remain close to each other. They seemed to be making some progress even if they haven't reached the witch itself so far. That is, until a yellow portal appeared behind the oldest of the three and she charged into it with her fist extended, reappearing through another portal right behind the witch's head to punch it as hard as possible. Its face quickly kissed the ground and its familiars briefly stopped advancing towards the other two magical girls, giving them enough time to teleport above their main target. The one with a rapier dived towards the witch to drive her blade through its neck while her younger teammate pointed at it with her hand held in a finger gun gesture, but it managed to raise its coffin in time to block both the stab and pink energy blast. This coffin proved to be durable enough to withstand numerous punches from the oldest girl as well and she ended up being flung backwards with a hearty shove.

Attempts to continue their assault was cut short by even more annoying familiars. They surrounded the team and completely blocked sight of them, but only for a moment. Blue light seeped through whatever gaps were there and shortly afterwards, a dozen floating rapiers cut through it followed by an explosive punch that cleared out whatever was left of that swarm. While it didn't last long, this distraction did give the witch enough time to recover and back off a bit. The second attempt to teleport and punch it was met with failure, with the witch turning around to grab the girl as soon as a portal appeared behind it. She was promptly throw back at the girl in pink, knocking her back even farther. Just as it did before, the witch extended its middle arm towards them, preparing to attack.

At that point, Homura was considering interfering if this fight went any worse, but ultimately decided against it. She still wasn't aware of their intentions and helping someone who could potentially not only get in her way, but outright attack her wasn't in her best interests.

Right before the witch attacked, the girl in blue moved in front of her comrades and formed a shield adorned with spades and constellations to block its attack. But there was no time for celebration as the witch set its giant coffin in front of it, its lid dropping onto the ground and sending tremors through the field. The magical girls briefly spoke about something and with a nod, the one in pink extended her arm in front of her. She was chanting something, but from this distance, Homura had to listen closely to make anything out.

"Heed me, thou that are more azure than justice and more crimson than love…"

Apparently, Mami wasn't the only one with a flair for the dramatic. Whatever it was, it was taking long enough for familiar to try attacking her from behind. If that weren't enough, a truly overwhelming number of butterflies flew out of the now open coffin, threatening to engulf the three girls like a raging torrent if that shield gives in.

"In the name of those buried in destiny…"

If it weren't for the floating rapiers and the girl in gold cutting and punching through the swarms attacking from behind faster than their numbers were replenished, Homura would be unable to see them at all from the sheer density of the stream of butterflies coming from the coffin.

"I shall make this oath to the light..."

Magic circles emitting pink light formed underneath and in front of the girl dressed in same colors while the ringing noise made by the butterflies grew louder.

"Mark the hateful beings who stand before us…"

That shield finally started cracking as more magic circles of larger size appeared. There seemed to be no end to the butterflies trying to break through it.

"Let your strength merge with mine, so that we may deliver the power of love to all…"

If they weren't done the next few seconds, the witch would overpower them, but it seemed like the last magic circle in the shape of a winged heart far larger in size had finally formed in front of the girl.

"ARCANA SLAVE!"

The shield finally shattered into pieces, but it didn't matter anymore. A powerful beam erupted from the youngest girl, engulfing the stream of butterflies in searing light and easily blowing a hole through the coffin and its owner standing behind it. Even if that didn't fatally wound it, the black thorns spreading from the gaping wound quickly reduced the rest of its body to nothing, leaving behind only a single grief seed. Seemingly exhausted, the girl in pink almost collapses onto the ground, but her teammates catch her in time as the landscape around them dissolves.

Now was a good time to confront them. All three looked winded and thus were unlikely to best her in combat. If they were willing to cooperate, then she would have more allies to help her when the time comes. If they were hostile...

"It appears that we have a guest," - the oldest of the three said.

"H-Huh? Oh, hello there! If you're here to help, then we've got everything sorted out!" - the youngest one said, having apparently already recovered.

That was when Homura noticed two things. First of all, even when she was only several feet away from them, she couldn't find their soul gems anywhere. Second, these girls were in no hurry to claim their prize. They weren't even looking in its direction. A magical girl would grab it after a fight like this, whether it was to keep her magical powers or for survival.

"...Aren't you going to take it?" - Homura asked, looking at the grief seed.

"Take what?...What's that?" - the girl in pink asked in response, following Homura's gaze until her own lands upon the item in question.

"What an odd-looking trinket. Where did it come from?" - the one in gold asked. The glint in her eyes made it obvious that she had some interest in it, but...

Were they playing dumb? Or did that damned Incubator just neglect to tell them something so important so that they would turn into witches faster? But even that didn't feel right to her. Two of the magical girls' age made it highly unlikely that they were novices. One of them had to be around seventeen years old.

"Who are you?"

"Can't you see? We're magical girls! When evil threatens the world, you can always count on The Queen of Hearts, The King of Diamonds and The Knight of Spades to save the day!"

"I...I've told you not to use those names..." - the girl with blue hair - who most likely was the one called The Knight of Spades - finally spoke up although her voice was a little quiet. She still hasn't opened her eyes.

"But senpai, they fit so well!"

"T-That's not..."

"This is not the time to be concerned with branding...That aside, I belive you're supposed to give your name before asking for others', aren't you?"

"...Homura Akemi."

"You have a beautiful name, Homura-chan. Now then, would you be so kind as to explain what exactly this little thing is supposed to be?"

Whether they were merely keeping up their charade or genuinely ignorant, Homura refused to let her guard down. Being able to top time didn't necessarily make her invincible. At the same time, she didn't want to make enemies when he could avoid it. Remaining neutral or, better yet, gaining their support was preferable in the long run and it didn't matter whether they could meaningfully harm Walpurgisnacht or merely serve as a distraction. It was worth a shot regardless of how much of an impact they will have on her mission. It would be a shame if she missed her only chance of succeeding just because she was starting to lose faith in others' abilities.

"It's a reward for slaying the monster you have just defeated...Have you even met anyone named Kyubey?"

"Kyubey? Hmmm...Nope! No Kyubeys I can recall. But this the first time I see bad guys dropping stuff like this..."

Claiming not to know the one being that granted all magical girls their powers would be too stupid to even think that you could fool anyone with it. Something was not right here and while Homura didn't know what exactly it was, at least now it was clear that these weren't ordinary magical girls even if they could fight witches and they weren't hostile...or at least the girl in pink - The Queen of Hearts - and The Knight of Despair weren't. Something about the oldest one of the three - The King of Diamonds - bothered her.

"If you don't mind, I would like to move our conversation elsewhere, preferably somewhere we can order food. If I don't eat anything soon, I might just eat you all up..."

"Uwaah, please don't say that!"

"Then follow me. I will explain everything you need to know."

For Madoka's sake, she could put up with them for a little while.

**Author's Note:**

> As a little side note, "The Knight of Spades"' design is a little different from what it would normally be in this state, but there is a reason for that even if it will not be revealed because it's a one-shot. The names used for them aren't exactly the same as their actual names (or at least what they are called) either.


End file.
